2023 Observation | Uncertain 2023, Determined LED Plant grow Lighting Market

LED plant grow lamp is an artificial light source that uses LED (Light Emitting Diode) as a light source and can meet the lighting conditions required for plant photosynthesis. Generally, in environments lacking sunlight, the lamp becomes daylight to allow plants to grow and develop normally. The function of the lamp is to strengthen roots, promote growth, regulate flowering period and color, promote fruit ripening, coloring, and improve taste and quality. LED plant supplementary lighting equipment provides supplementary light sources for plants, promotes plant growth, and improves production efficiency. In recent years, with the development of LED technology, more and more downstream industries have begun to use LED plant lighting equipment. In addition, compared to other plant fill lights, LED can adjust the spectrum, which will better design the required spectrum for plants. The utilization rate of the spectrum is higher and more energy-saving, so it plays a crucial role in modern agricultural construction.
From 2022 to 2023, we are entering a year full of uncertainty: countries are seeking economic recovery, overall uncertainty is decreasing, and the efficiency and effectiveness of economic development need to be tested. Many industry insiders cannot help but ask, will the LED lighting market be good in 2023? Although 2023 is full of uncertainty, one thing is certain that the LED plant lighting market will continue to maintain a stable growth trend.
Compared to the explosive development of the plant lighting market from 2020 to the first half of 2021, the plant lighting industry remained tepid and stable in 2022, with an overall slowdown in growth rate. Some institutions predict that the market size of LED plant lighting will reach 1.79 billion US dollars in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 6.6%. However, in 2021, the market size will reach 1.68 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth rate of 29.6%.
After experiencing the first round of high growth, the global plant lighting market is currently experiencing relatively stable growth, and the development of various regions shows differences and diversification. In order to cope with the food and energy crisis caused by climate change, European greenhouse is increasingly willing to introduce energy-saving LED fill lights, and the lighting market for fruits, vegetables, flowers and other crops shows a good growth trend.
In April 2022, the United States passed the MORE Act, legalizing industrial marijuana, driving the growth of demand for plant lighting. However, the North American plant grow lighting market was temporarily limited by destocking factors, which temporarily limited its growth rate. In June 2022, Thailand officially declared the cultivation and smoking of marijuana legal, and the demand for plant lighting in Thailand gradually increased.
As for the domestic market, due to the repeated epidemic and the relatively tight supply of upstream chips and other raw materials, the market demand growth rate for LED plant grow lighting applications has slowed down. Demonstration projects such as the “Plant Factory Rice Breeding Accelerator” of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have brought new development opportunities for plant lighting. At the same time, the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to “comprehensively consolidate the foundation of food security”, pointing out the direction for China’s food policy.
It can be foreseen that under the favorable policies of legalizing industrial cannabis in North America and Thailand, coupled with the food supply chain crisis caused by the epidemic and geopolitical factors, as well as people’s pursuit of safe and healthy food, smart agriculture is gradually being put on the agenda of governments around the world. The rise of plant factories and vertical agriculture will further stimulate the demand for LED grow lights in the market. Related institutions predict that the global market for plant lighting systems in 2017 is only about 3.8 billion US dollars; In 2027, the market size of LED plant lights will rapidly increase to $17 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 16%; The LED grow lamp device level market was only $100 million in 2017 and will expand to $700 million in 2027; The compound annual growth rate reached 21%.
As a popular lighting track in recent years, plant growth lighting has attracted a strong layout from over 30 listed companies or leading enterprises in the industry chain.
On the one hand, they actively respond to market demand and continue to innovate, focusing on product efficiency and color spectrum indicators, in pursuit of product “brilliance”. In 2022, the performance of plant lighting products shows a competitive trend of catching up with each other. They all use their accumulated technical means to improve product performance, including photosynthetic photon flux (PPF), photosynthetic photon efficiency (PPF/W; PPE), light uniformity, corrosion resistance, and sulfurization resistance. They have initially formed a certain influence on the plant lighting track.
According to the list of the “Top 25 Chinese LED Industry Plant Lighting Companies of the Year” released by the Daily LED All Media, based on the statistics of publicly available data and independent application data of listed companies, 25 powerful enterprises such as Zhongke Biology, Foshan Lighting, Xidi Technology, Sangrui Biology, Hongrui Optoelectronics, and Yuguang Lighting emerged from the expert review meeting, laying a solid foundation in the field of plant lighting.
On the other hand, creating a circle and establishing industrial chain collaboration has also become a new gameplay for plant lighting enterprises. From the strategic cooperation between Songsheng and the Urban Agriculture Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, to the cooperation between Fluence, a LED plant lighting solution provider, and BioLumic, a plant growth biotechnology company. Through this collaboration, BioLumic will accelerate the development of a light signaling platform, providing Fluence with more opportunities to enter the global horticultural market and strengthening its horticultural lighting product portfolio.
Although the current strategic alliance has not yet formed a climate, plant lighting is a systematic interdisciplinary topic, and relying solely on lighting enterprises to fight alone is far from enough. In the future, more manufacturers will actively establish upstream and downstream, cross-border cooperation, and promote the professional and large-scale development of the LED grow light market.

From GILE Guangzhou International Lighting Exhibition & Joint Research Institute